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[greg.smalter]

Briefly, all I want to do is build an HTPC to replace my DVR, but store the recorded TV on a network drive instead of on the HTPC, and I want to share that content. In detail, I have the following devices:

- HDHomeRun tuners - Network sharable.

- Basement PC (Windows 7)- Always on. It is attached to a large eSATA RAID box on which all music, images, and recorded TV are stored.

- Living Room HTPC (Windows 7)- I am in the middle of building this machine now. I'm willing to have this always on, if necessary, but I'm not sure if I'll need to yet.

- Various Laptops/future bedroom HTPCs/etc.

All PCs should be able to watch Live and Recorded TV and stream Netflix/VUDU/etc. from the internet (I understand MC is working on sharing Live TV, and that a lot of bandwidth is needed to directly use the HDHomeRun tuner - let's just assume Gigabit Ethernet for the remainder of this conversation).

The Living Room PC should also be able to schedule new recordings and delete shows that have already been watched. The two ways to accomplish this would be for 1) The Living Room PC to do the recording itself and store the recorded show to the network drive on Basement PC or 2) To have the Living Room PC tell the Basement PC to do the recording. My understanding is that Windows Media Center does not allow either of these things to happen, which is why I am in this forum.

One more thing - the Living Room PC should also be able to play Blu Ray discs.

What JRiver software (MC, Library Server, AnyDVD plug-ins, etc.) do I need to install, and on what machines do I need to install it, in order to make the above scenario work? Is there anything I am asking for that is not possible? Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

[imugli]

Hi there,

I'll see if I can go through these 1 by 1...

All PCs should be able to watch Live and Recorded TV and stream Netflix/VUDU/etc. from the internet (I understand MC is working on sharing Live TV, and that a lot of bandwidth is needed to directly use the HDHomeRun tuner - let's just assume Gigabit Ethernet for the remainder of this conversation).

A copy of MC on each PC will do this. You'd run MC Server on the Server and set it up as the Library. Each PC would then connect to that Library. Very Easy.

The Living Room PC should also be able to schedule new recordings and delete shows that have already been watched. The two ways to accomplish this would be for 1) The Living Room PC to do the recording itself and store the recorded show to the network drive on Basement PC or 2) To have the Living Room PC tell the Basement PC to do the recording. My understanding is that Windows Media Center does not allow either of these things to happen, which is why I am in this forum.

Each client copy of MC can set recordings and set the save location to be the server. Again, very easy. At the moment I don't think you can set it to delete once watched automatically.

One more thing - the Living Room PC should also be able to play Blu Ray discs.

You'll need AnyDVD HD to this, but yes, MC supports BluRay.


So now we have that out of the way...

You can use 1 MC licence on your home server and PCs. Very kind of JR. No need to purchase multiple licences.
MC comes standard with both MC Client and Server. Server needs to run on the server in order to "Serve" the library, while it needs to run client machines to "Access" the library.

Hope this helps...

[greg.smalter]

Thanks. Knowing that the server and client are all in the same main MC program (I thought the server was separate) is a big help.

Each client copy of MC can set recordings and set the save location to be the server. Again, very easy. At the moment I don't think you can set it to delete once watched automatically.

I am confident that I can tell any PC to record and use the network drive on the server as the destination. What I don't fully understand is whether the server is actually doing the recording or if the machine I scheduled it with is doing the recording but the destination happens to be the server. In other words, if I schedule a recording from the living room, and then I unplug the living room PC, will the show record or not?

Thanks.

[eapool]

It depends on how you have things setup, but in a client/ server configuration, the recording is done by the server.  So you can schedule the recording on the living room PC and then unplug it and the show will record (assuming the basement PC is the server).  Be aware that it appears that the recording conflict error uses the number of tuners configured on the client and not on the server.  I have four tuners in my server, but each of my clients only have two (HD Homerun).  When I schedule three recording for the same time from a client, I get a conflict error, even though there really isn't one.  Not a big deal, just something to be aware of.

Alex

[greg.smalter]

It depends on how you have things setup, but in a client/ server configuration, the recording is done by the server.  So you can schedule the recording on the living room PC and then unplug it and the show will record (assuming the basement PC is the server).  Be aware that it appears that the recording conflict error uses the number of tuners configured on the client and not on the server.  I have four tuners in my server, but each of my clients only have two (HD Homerun).  When I schedule three recording for the same time from a client, I get a conflict error, even though there really isn't one.  Not a big deal, just something to be aware of.

It's good to know that I can have the server (which is the basement PC, yes) do the recording. I still may end up using WMC to do recordings just because I've read other posts saying how Media Server does not run as a service and therefore if you haven't happened to log in since the last restart (Windows Update, power outage, or whatever) then it will not be running and therefore not record. I guess I'll just have to weigh that risk against the inconvenience of having to go down to the basement to schedule recordings.

As for the tuners - I have all HDHomeRuns so I guess it won't be a problem, but it is a little weird that it happens as you describe. If it weren't for needing direct access to the tuners for live TV (a need which may eventually be eliminated because JRiver has expressed they will have a feature for sharing live TV to MC Clients), I don't even understand why the client PCs would need to know about the tuners at all, much less use them for conflict checking.

Speaking of conflict checking, recording isn't the only thing that uses a tuner. What if there are recordings about to start but some of the tuners are being used by Live TV (from various PCs) and there aren't enough total tuners? Who wins, and is there any notification that there is a problem? I guess I don't know how WMC handles this either.

Thanks again.

[eapool]

It's good to know that I can have the server (which is the basement PC, yes) do the recording. I still may end up using WMC to do recordings just because I've read other posts saying how Media Server does not run as a service and therefore if you haven't happened to log in since the last restart (Windows Update, power outage, or whatever) then it will not be running and therefore not record. I guess I'll just have to weigh that risk against the inconvenience of having to go down to the basement to schedule recordings.

I have windows automatically log in on reboot and then JRiver automatically runs, so if I do have reboot for any reason, JRiver usually starts.

As for the tuners - I have all HDHomeRuns so I guess it won't be a problem, but it is a little weird that it happens as you describe. If it weren't for needing direct access to the tuners for live TV (a need which may eventually be eliminated because JRiver has expressed they will have a feature for sharing live TV to MC Clients), I don't even understand why the client PCs would need to know about the tuners at all, much less use them for conflict checking.

Yea, I haven't reported the issue with the conflict scheduling, because I am hoping that when JRiver adds placeshifting of live tv, that they take a look at the conflict resolution as well, since we won't have to have tuners for the clients anymore.

Speaking of conflict checking, recording isn't the only thing that uses a tuner. What if there are recordings about to start but some of the tuners are being used by Live TV (from various PCs) and there aren't enough total tuners? Who wins, and is there any notification that there is a problem? I guess I don't know how WMC handles this either.

I believe that if you are using a tuner, then it won't be available for recording. I am pretty sure there is no notification of conflict in this case.  That is why I installed two additional tuners in my server and I have them setup to use the server only tuners first when recording and then use the HDHomeruns as priority 3 and 4.

Alex

[drmimosa]

I still may end up using WMC to do recordings just because I've read other posts saying how Media Server does not run as a service and therefore if you haven't happened to log in since the last restart (Windows Update, power outage, or whatever) then it will not be running and therefore not record.

Is this true? J River has a program called Media Server which can be set to open at Win7 startup run in the background. Check out Options/Startup.

[greg.smalter]

Is this true? J River has a program called Media Server which can be set to open at Win7 startup run in the background. Check out Options/Startup.

In Windows, the only way a program can run without a user being logged in is as a service. So, if Media Server works the way you think it works, it must mean that it is a service. Or, "startup" really means "log in" which means that if you restart your computer and sit at the log in screen, it will not run. As soon as you type your password and log in, then it will run. The following posts give me reason to believe that Media Server works in the latter way:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=65606.msg440379#msg440379

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=66189.0

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=63159.0

[JimH]

It's not a service.  A login is required.